Category: Technology

Sun Cellular Mobile Internet Rates

What I really liked about Sun Cellular (Sun) is that it really offers competitive rates not just call and text (SMS) but also mobile internet.

Take a look at their prepaid mobile internet pricing scheme called SBW Loads below:

SBW Loads

Contrary to popular notion, Sun Broadband Wireless (SBW) loads are not just for the SBW dongle; they can be used by regular Sun Prepaid subscribers to surf on their phone.

SBW Load Price Inclusions Validity
1. SBW25 P25 3 hours 1 day
2. SBW50 P50 1 day unlimited 1 day
3. SBW100 P100 3 days unlimited 3 days
4. SBW300 P300 48 hours 10 days

Rates sourced from their website.

The big question, however, is if you are considering the options SBW100 and SBW300, it’s a no-brainer that you should go for SBW100, right? What could be the logic that you would pick otherwise?

Again, another example of corporate ignorance.

Ironically Android Devices

I find it ironic for Android tablets (just like this Acer Iconia A500 tablet, photo above) and Android phones to pose like an iPad or iPhone competitor, and yet offer their products at usually higher prices than the leader.

If you are gonna take on the competition, and you can’t offer a lot more — if not better — features, then at least come out with a competitive price. Think about 50% to 60% of that of the leader.

OpenPGP for iPhone

Searching for OpenPGP in the App Store returns two apps only: SecuMail and OpenGP. Both interoperates with GnuPG. SecuMail is more robust in terms of functionality but costs a whopping $49.99. OpenGP (the Full version) is priced at $7.99 only, but it currently operates in a copy-and-paste message only — no support for attachments.

There are a lot of message encryption apps in the App Store in various encryption algorithms from 64 to 254 bits and in various prices. Some are universal apps for both iPhone and iPad. But most if not all are offering symmetric encryption, meaning you have to provide the other party you send your message to the passphrase in order for him/her to decrypt the message.

So, if you are already using OpenPGP like GnuPG to sign and encrypt emails in your desktop computers, you would love the two apps I mentioned above to access the same signed/encrypted email messages from your iPhone.

Update (June 3, 2011): There’s a new app that’s much cheaper to both apps featured above. It’s called iPGMail. The app costs US$ 1.99, and it appears to be functioning very well based on users’ reviews in the App Store. Wish I could try that to test, though.

Samsung Galaxy Ace – The Mid-Range Android Phone

At 3.5-inch display, it’s as big as the iPhone 4’s – though graphics may not necessarily be as crisp as the latter uses the Retina Display. Yet, at P14,990, who could resist this offer?

Samsung Galaxy Ace vs. iPhone 4

Photo Courtesy of PhoneArena.

The Galaxy Ace’s specs follow: Check out the specs and the PhoneArena Review »

The Quest for Audio Perfection

Sometimes I wonder how else can audio be more perfect?

For beginners like me, watching movies on a surround sound audio channel is definitely a whole lot better experience than a stereo system. It’s much like comparing a color TV vs. black-and-white. That’s why I often prefer watching movies at theatres than from a DVD.

But what about listening to music? As an amateur, the louder the sound, the deeper the bass, the more you stomp your feet at the beats of the sound — the better. But what do I know?

Maybe if I have one of these best marantz A/V receivers, I can tell better.

Marantz NR1501 AV Receiver

Maybe this can bring out the audiophile in me.

Firefox 4.0 – Ready for Download

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Even with the advent of Google Chrome, which provides sleeker and faster internet browsing experience, I was still using Mozilla Firefox as my main browser.

There are just important and useful addons in Firefox that I can’t find in Chrome. If there are counterpart functions or extensions, the same leave a lot of things to be desired. Worse, they even bring problems than solutions.

Now that Firefox 4.0 is here, Mozilla claims it is 6 times faster. I hope it really is, before I’ll start longing for Chrome’s marvelous speed.

[vimeo 21351127 w=500 h=281]

Firefox 4 Introduction Video from JESS3 on Vimeo.

This 60-second video produced by JESS3 showcases Mozilla’s latest browser launch, Firefox 4. The video highlights the new browser and its features, including a fresh user-interface, more customization and personalization features, and a faster browsing experience than ever before.

Using advanced digital-animation techniques, the video simulates a papercraft production. Vibrant visuals, coupled with the lively original soundtrack and personable voice over, educate viewers about the non-profit’s latest launch.

Other features I’m really looking forward to are Pin as App Tab and Group Tabs Panorama. Hope they really do deliver on their promised improvements. Continue reading Firefox 4.0 – Ready for Download

iPad 2 is Not Excused from the Blender Challenge

Unfortunately for iPad 2, it is not excused from the blender challenge.

Just as any new device that came out in the past, the big question ‘Will it Blend?’ has been resolved in the affirmative for the iPad 2. Remember, don’t try this at home.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USiaeXzYkOE&fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0]

Check out other ‘Will it Blend?’ videos for the iPhone 4, the original iPad, and even the Chrome Notebook.

If you own a $439.95 blender, it sure will blend anything that fits into its compartment.

Measure Your Computer’s Power with Fritz Chess Benchmark

With great power comes great… a strong chess machine.

This is especially true with computers. With greater computer processing power, the deeper the analysis it can afford given a certain position, and the faster it gets to come up with the better play. Thus, the computer becomes a stronger chess player.

But how do you measure your computer’s power especially when compared to another computer of different specs and processor?

Chessbase has come up with the Fritz Chess Benchmark program that comes packaged with every Fritz chess program it ships.

Using the Fritz Chess Benchmark utility, here’s my result with the current machine I’m using:

The result shows it’s got 4 processors (CPU’s), 7.87 times faster than a lowly Pentium 3 1.0GHZ machine, and computing at 3,777 Kilo Nodes per second. Check out the specs of this machine »

Chat with Facebook Friends using Pidgin

I actually haven’t known that Facebook chat has supported the XMPP standards for quite some time now. Now it enables desktop chat clients like my favorite Pidgin to connect to your Facebook friends without a need for any plugin (which sometimes break).

Thanks to How-To Geek, now I know.

What is Pidgin?

Pidgin is an easy to use and free chat client used by millions. Connect to AIM, MSN, Yahoo, and more chat networks all at once.

I have long been an advocate of Pidgin as a desktop chat client. The reason why? Read more to know why and how to use Pidgin to chat with Facebook friends »